Box Score Las Vegas, N.M. – The NMHU Women's Basketball team hosted the Black Hills State University Yellow Jackets at the John Wilson Complex on Saturday night, 1/19. The Cowgirls were looking to get a win, in the hopes of turning their season around. Unfortunately, the Yellow Jackets came off a recent string of successes and they were able to ride that momentum to victory over the Cowgirls, by a score of 67-50.
The Cowgirls fell behind early (8-0) before NMHU Head Coach Tiffany Darling decided to take the first timeout of the game just three minutes into the contest. The majority of the Yellow Jackets' points in the first half came from close-range field goals. The Yellow Jackets opportunities arose when they crashed the boards, out-rebounding the Cowgirls in the first half.
Black Hills shot the ball well, gaining a 21-5 lead by the first ten minutes of the half. The Cowgirls began to eliminate second shot opportunities for the Yellow Jackets. This allowed the Cowgirls to close the scoring gap.
Eboni Jacobs and
Haley Grossman were the main scoring threat, with more than half of the Cowgirls' first-half points.
A ray of optimism entered the John A. Wilson Complex as the Cowgirls picked up their urgency to win, cutting the deficit to 12 points. The optimism was soon diminished as the Yellow Jackets continued their high-percentage shooting (66% from the field and 63% from three-point land).
Despite the fact that each team had almost equal turnovers, the game was one-sided. Even as the Cowgirls strategically adjusted their defensive game plan to a half-court press, the Yellow Jacket lead was confirmed at halftime, 38-22.
At the beginning of the second half, the Yellow Jackets continued to shoot well. The hole kept getting deeper for the Cowgirls, as the lead began to get out of reach.
Displaying poise and character, the Cowgirls continued to work until the final buzzer. The unyielding defense of the Cowgirls prevented the Yellow Jackets from walking all over them, every attempted shot by Black Hills was earned.
Eboni Jacobs assisted the Cowgirls in a bold attempt to win the game. She finished the game with 11 points, shooting perfect from beyond the arc (3-3 three-pointers).
Cowgirl
Haley Grossman also joined the scoring with 10 points.
The Cowgirls remain home for their next competition, on 1/26, to host a conference match-up against in-state rival Western New Mexico University, in Las Vegas, N.M. The Mustangs occupy 13th place in the RMAC with a 2-10 conference record and 2-8 in overall play.
GO COWGIRLS!!!
